Erling Haaland has enjoyed a bright start to life at Manchester City, scoring nine goals from his first five Premier League appearances, but he’s been criticised for how little he’s involved in games. The 22-year-old is currently averaging less than 12 passes per game, so he doesn’t see a lot of the ball over the 90 minutes.
Frank McAvennie came to his defence, however, and said the statistics don’t matter when he’s consistently scoring as Pep Guardiola will have hoped. McAvennie also made a bold prediction about City’s pursuit of the Champions League, tipping them to win it with Haaland this season.
Where will Manchester City finish in the Premier League this season?
1st
2nd
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4th
5th or lower
He told Football Insider: “He’ll be top goalscorer this year, he is the man. He might not get a touch of the ball and then score. The stats now are going mental, you don’t need stats. He scores goals and that’s what he’s there for. And he’ll get better, once he knows his teammates.
“I think Haaland will be the difference in the Champions League and I think that’s why Pep signed him. They’re wanting to win the Champions League, Pep’s done it before and he wants to do it with Man City and I think Haaland will do that for him.”
Haaland has taken 22 shots in the five league games, all but one of which have been in the penalty area or closer. He’s hit the target on 12 occasions, so his accuracy is 54% and his shots-per-goal ratio is 2.4.
The Norwegian international may not be contributing in games outside of taking shots and the odd link-up play, but he is winning City games with his ruthless finishing.
The Sky Blues have netted 19 times from their five league outings, which is four more than the next best team (Liverpool). Haaland has contributed nearly half of that tally too, so McAvennie is right to play down those using statistics to critique the striker when he’s doing his bit in the title race.
In other news, what did Man City pay for Manuel Akanji? What’s his shirt number? What are his wages?